Cal Poly Women’s Basketball bounced back from a 41-point loss against USC with an 84-59 win against the Fresno State Bulldogs inside the Mott Athletics Center on Saturday, Dec. 9.
The Mustangs were without freshman Mary Carter who is averaging 8.0 points and 5.6 rebounds this season. She led the team in scoring with 11 in the previous game and has scored in double figures in three games this season.
Cal Poly Senior Natalia Ackerman stepped up as she recorded her second double-double of the season with a season-high of 19 points on 9-9 shooting and 10 rebounds off the bench.
The Mustangs (3-5) got off to a slow start to start the game as the Bulldogs (6-5) began with a full-court press to disrupt the Mustangs’ offense and began with a 17-2 run to start the first quarter.
The Bulldogs shot 53% from the field in the first quarter and opened up with a 17-5 lead.
However, the Mustangs were able to get themselves several stops and went on a 13-7 run to end the first quarter. This would be the only chance the Bulldogs would have at keeping the game close.
The Mustangs continued to dominate the Bulldogs in the second quarter with Ackerman scoring 13 points in the first half.
Cal Poly redshirt freshman Sierra Lichtie finished with 17 points. Junior Annika Shah added 16 points on three of five shooting from the three-point line.
Shah continues to give the Mustangs a scoring boost as she leads the team averaging 10.0 points while shooting 38.7% from three.
The Mustangs ended the quarter on a 7-0 run scoring 25 points in the period while holding their opponent to 12. With this run, the Mustangs took a 43-36 lead going into halftime.
To open up the third quarter, the Mustangs continued to dominate Fresno State. They continued to suffocate the Bulldogs on defense as they held them to 18-55 shooting (32/7%). The Bulldogs shot just 5-16 (31.3%) and only had 13 points in the quarter. The Mustangs led going into the fourth quarter 64-49.
The Mustangs continued to pressure the Bulldogs and blew the game wide open as Cal Poly managed to obtain a 30-point lead, 84-54, at the 3-minute mark. Fresno State shot the ball 1-9 in the fourth quarter and only had a total of 10 points.
The Mustangs went on to win the game 84-59 holding the Bulldogs to 32% shooting over the whole game. The Mustangs shot 58.6% from the field, which is more than over 20% of their season average at 38.1%.
The Mustangs have had their share of rough games this season and have shown their inconsistencies in terms of scoring, but in their matchup against the Bulldogs, the Mustangs had five players score double digits.
Cal Poly graduate student Ania McNicholas had 10 points on 4-9 shooting. Junior guard Sidney Richards finished the game with 12 second-half points on 6-8 shooting. This is the first time this year that the Mustangs had more than three players score in double figures in a single game.
The Mustangs look to continue to defend their home court as they face the University of Montana Grizzlies on Saturday, Dec. 16, at the Mott Athletics Center.